If Everything Is Written Do We Have Free Will? l Speakers Corner

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]is my way of trying to understand Abuahab for example.

[00:00:04]>> Let me just quickly jump in. Yeah. So the Islamic concept of free will is compatibilism.

[00:00:11]>> Compatibility.

[00:00:12]>> Yeah. So I'll define them. Yeah. So determinism there are three schools of thought. Yeah. Even non-Muslims they have to contend with this as determinism which means you have no free will. Everything is decided for you.

[00:00:28]Yeah. You are a slave of either the laws or whatever. Yeah. No free will on the other hand is absolute free will means everything is your choice.

[00:00:40]>> Yeah.

[00:00:40]>> Two extremes.

[00:00:42]>> So then compatibilism is that there are things that we do not have free will over.

[00:00:50]Yeah. And there are things that we do have free will over. For example, me choosing to raise my hand or not raising my hand. me choosing to have this conversation or walking away. That's free will, right?

[00:01:04]However, now if you say fly quickly, quickly quickly fly, fly. I can't do this. Or you say stand on two legs.

[00:01:11]Okay, there you go. Stand on one leg.

[00:01:13]Okay, stand on no legs. I can't do this.

[00:01:16]Yeah. So, we believe there are certain things that are determined. For example, laws. I can throw something up. It's determined that there is the law of gravity. I can't control the law of gravity. Yes, I can create a system in which I can remove air and there's going to be a vacuum but generally speaking is determined for me. Yeah. So we hold to compatibilism which is >> certain things are determined certain things are free will >> certain things are certain things are free. And when it comes to certain wordings of the Quran, when Allah says that their hearts have been sealed or this will happen or that will happen, that is based upon Allah having complete knowledge of said individual. Because when we see things, we for example, you've got the full poem in your head. You start writing it down.

[00:02:06]You start from A and you go to Zed.

[00:02:08]>> You start from beginning and you go to end. With Allah, he sees the past, the present, and the future the same. the words there is no different. So similarly over here when he's saying that you know Abu Lahab will not accept Islam he is making a complete statement seeing the beginning middle and end it doesn't mean that he is making him do that he has given the choice and this might answer another point that you had just because Allah knows something doesn't mean he is forcing you to do it.

[00:02:44]So for example, the sun will rise tomorrow. You know this. But it does not mean you will make the sun rise tomorrow.

[00:02:56]>> Whatever you may see maybe two cars coming very quickly. You will crashing together. That doesn't mean you are making them crash together. So knowledge of something does not mean >> I'm using the word coercion to do that to be a >> coercion of action. It seems you are very obsessed with little girls. So that would be >> that's I wouldn't recommend it but let me know so we know.

[00:03:27]>> Tell your prophet not me.

[00:03:28]>> Do you love little girls?

[00:03:30]>> No I don't. Muhammad did I don't.

[00:03:33]>> Why are you stuttering?

[00:03:34]>> Huh? Muhammad, >> why are you stuttering? I'm not asking about Muhammad. I'm asking about you.

[00:03:39]Why are you stuttering?

[00:03:39]>> I'm not stuttering. I'm not stuttering.

[00:03:41]I'm telling you.

[00:03:42]>> I asked him if he likes little girls and he's stuttering.

[00:03:45]>> Do you mind having a I said, "Do you like little girls?" He's He's stuttering.

[00:03:49]>> Muhammad did.

[00:03:50]>> I don't.

[00:03:50]>> Why is he stuttering?

[00:03:52]>> Ask him.

[00:03:52]>> I did.

[00:03:53]>> I tell Muhammad what >> do you like little boys?

[00:03:56]>> No, I don't. I don't do that.

[00:03:58]Oh, let's talk about the man of al the men of Al and your Muhammad in the middle of the night. Go ahead.

[00:04:06]>> Okay. Now that we think of >> Let's talk about that.

[00:04:09]>> Um, >> we want to talk about that >> the matter of guidance.

[00:04:12]>> If you go there, I will go there with you. God guiding people to make a different set of choices. You have >> Sorry. Sorry.

[00:04:19]>> It's now that's making me think of the matter of guidance. So God's role. So according to my understanding, God put together a system. He gave you the guide up to you to follow or not.

[00:04:32]>> Then there's also guidance where >> I don't know if this is correct to say but God takes an active role in your choices not like the prophet cuz from what I understand it's the only individual he directly guided.

[00:04:44]>> So let me jump again. Yeah. So when because Allah knows that this person there will come a time they will become sincere and when they become sincere then the truth will become clear to them. So that's so again all of these things they are free will based.

[00:05:02]However, Allah knows that this person will incur certain people for example with him. Now I've spoken to him several times I've tried to have a rational conversation. He just doesn't want to brother. Yeah. Now because of that then I will take a step back from him. He wants to be a troll. I will be a troll with him. Like he made a comment I gave him a troll comment. But somebody else comes and sincere I will give them a sincere comment. Troll comment to a troll. Sincere comment to a sincere person. Yeah. So similarly over here Allah knows that both of these people they will be given two shu that will be their friends that they will travel with that they will guide that they will help them etc. This person will accept them this person will reject them. Then Allah will say you know guidance was given but he rejected it. Does that mean that God is now saying you know open your mouth come the plane? No. It's there.

[00:06:01]You can bring the horse to the water.

[00:06:02]You can't make the horse drink the water. Everybody has the water in front of them. But it's up to the people in the end to consume or to reject. He was n he was when I said one more thing and she was >> and this might be wrong to ask. So the matter of the child he was uh he was killed by as an instruction because he would have grown up to cause his parents to disbelief bad apple that kind of thing. It's a mercy to the child gets killed before the age of being accountable.

[00:06:42]That also makes me think of guidance and free will because Muhammad couldn't have he been guided and wouldn't that have been also a valuable lesson to MS? That's why it might be a question that's not right to ask. But I do wonder about it in relation to this topic.

[00:06:58]>> Very good. So here's the thing now.

[00:07:01]>> We could make the argument with everything.

[00:07:05]>> When the prophet, you know, he was speaking to somebody and the blind person came and then Allah didn't like But surely Allah could have guided or could have assisted not guided but assisted the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to deal with the matter differently. However the matter was dealt with was exactly how Allah wanted it to be. Yeah. Now when it comes to there was a certain story there was a certain ruling or a certain point or a certain lesson Allah wanted to derive from that particular story. And that's why because absolutely there are many examples where somebody has been a really bad person and they've died on that or people that they've been bad people and they've been guided or people that been that they've been young and they've been guided or people that they've been young and they haven't been guided. There's so many different options but we know that we have the pixel Allah has the picture. So Allah picks which lesson will be the most effective for mankind and that lesson according to Allah's infinite knowledge was beneficial to mankind the way it was told in that story. Now when it comes to the specifics of that story that person that was killed there are many other that go in detail. For example another says that he was a bandit. So he wasn't exactly an innocent person that was killed. He was a bandit.

[00:08:22]>> The child.

[00:08:23]>> The Yeah. child. Some even argue that even though the word child is used, there is an argument that can be made that he wasn't necessarily even a child.

[00:08:32]He could even have been an adult.

[00:08:33]>> Okay, fair. If there's like even relating it to this topic of >> free will, >> do you know?

[00:08:42]>> Yeah. Honestly, I >> Yeah. So even with that >> when you finish >> like he could have been guided but you know I can't say that like that's matter.

[00:08:51]>> Who can say he could have been guided?

[00:08:53]Allah and I think the point you're going to make is he has the full picture and >> and Allah said and if Allah is explicating if Allah is indicating if Allah is telling us that this individual would not have been guided and would have misled others then it means that that person if they are allowed to continue their life then that life would not have been fruitful. Therefore Allah is not taking his free will away. His free will is still intact. Because had he lived, he would still have chosen a life of disobedience.

[00:09:27]>> It's making me think of predisposition now. Are people predisposed to their choices and then where's the choosing?

[00:09:35]Where's the choosing at all in that if somebody so Allah knows the full story of this person no matter what they choose? Now I think of predisposition and did they really choose or are they always predisposed? So here's now the thing. When we have a fra it means we are predisposed predisposed to believing in a god. However, then what what are we told in our scripture? It is the culture. It is the parents. It is the people around that person that then turn them into a Christian or a mian or this or that. So the fra is there as a guiding or as a a direction or a light at the end of the tunnel. But again it's up to you to to take that path towards the light or take it towards the dark to take it towards the path um often followed or the path less followed.

[00:10:28]Ultimately the choice will be up to you >> and and you don't think that >> for example sorry one more thing night comes Allah switches off the light the sun is switched off then the lamp is switched on the moon. Yeah.

[00:10:43]But some people still want to do night shift. Some people still want to do a Netflix Harry Potter marathon at night or Star Wars marathon at night. This is a choice. Yes, Allah switched it off to indicate it's time to it's time to go to sleep. Go to sleep. That doesn't mean he's now taking away your freedom.

[00:11:03]Everyone now is going to they still have their free will if they want to decide to go to sleep. So the fra is there to you know indicate that you know what generally speaking whenever the argument is god and not god generally speaking a rational or you are going to go towards a god however the choice will always be yours.

[00:11:25]So you're saying even for those people where they'll never make let's call it the right choice it's not written for them that they'll never make the right choice.

[00:11:37]Allah is not doing those acts of theirs.

[00:11:41]Yes, Allah knows their decision, what they're going to do and what will happen, but knowing something does not mean God is making you do that thing.

[00:11:50]>> It's also not written for them. There's no written it's obviously we believe in right >> actually okay >> but we don't believe Allah writing something >> is Allah forcing you to so if I've done it Allah not making you go stop hating yourself stop hating yourself you know what I mean like it doesn't work like that so similarly um a teacher teaching the class doesn't now mean that everyone in that class will now class they have free will are they listening are they going to go home and revise. Are they paying attention?

[00:12:26]>> There's so many other factors.

[00:12:27]>> So when the pen at the beginning of creation wrote everything in the preserved tablet and it wrote let's say Abuahab, he's he's never going to believe. It's not God deciding that Abuahab is not going to believe. It's this uh idea that >> there's a difference between Abu Lahab will do this thing and Abu Lahab must do this thing.

[00:12:55]Must means you're dictating and it's going to happen and the puppets on a string. Will implies that's an observation. That's that it's a statement of knowledge. It's a knowledge >> as an entity outside of everything. So I'm sitting on top of a very high mountain.

[00:13:14]>> I see a low mountain and two cars coming and I can see both of them can't see that they are going to crash. I take my pen and paper out and I write down they're going to crash and then they crash. Police come. Can they arrest me? Because I wrote down before that they will crash.

[00:13:33]>> Just made an observation.

[00:13:34]>> I made an observation of knowledge. I made a knowledge claim. Knowledge does not equate coercion. This is a category mistake that people say just because there's a guy sitting in my in the mosque office. He made a calendar the Islamic calendar for the salas five daily prayers in there he has fudar and he also has sun sunset.

[00:13:58]>> Does that mean every day he will get up in a really big ladder he will throw a lassu and he will make the sunset. He will make them. No, of course not. It doesn't make sense, right? So, a knowledge claim doesn't mean coercion.

[00:14:14]This is a very important distinction.

[00:14:16]Whenever you're speaking to somebody or whenever you're focusing on these things, realize these two things.

[00:14:22]>> Yeah, that's a good point. I haven't thought of that. And so then that to the wider framework in Islam about choices and what that does to you in the afterlife, >> that's then how you're held accountable and you can't hold God accountable for for what you've done.

[00:14:38]>> Because just because God knows, >> we don't know, you know, >> why doesn't God do something about it in a sense? Like that's also something that somebody might fairly ask.

[00:14:48]>> So if God does something about it, do you have free will?

[00:14:52]No, but I don't think I have free will in in like the full sense of the word, you know.

[00:14:57]>> So, so here's when it comes back to compatibilism, right? So, we don't have free will in terms of say gravity or >> absolute will, >> you know, you Yeah. You put up apple an apple seed, then an apple tree will grow.

[00:15:11]>> But, but scope it to this scope of humans and >> let me give you an example from Kung Fu Panda. Yeah.

[00:15:16]>> Okay.

[00:15:16]>> Yeah. Master Uguay, I have to bring him now >> cuz you're going too far now. Yeah, >> sure.

[00:15:21]>> So, Master Actually, no, it was Shifue, actually. No, it was Ug >> the turtle, right?

[00:15:26]>> The turtle. Yeah. Yeah. Put some respect on his name.

[00:15:29]>> So, look, you put a maybe a orange tree seed into the ground.

[00:15:37]You don't decide now what tree will grow. The tree that will grow is orange tree. You can't turn into an apple tree or walnut tree or a lemon tree. What can you control?

[00:15:51]>> Planting it, nurturing it, >> planting it, >> nurturing it, >> harvesting, >> harvesting, >> doing it all over again.

[00:15:57]>> Yeah. Watering, all of that stuff. Yeah.

[00:15:59]>> So, there are certain things that you have free will of over. There are certain things that are determined.

[00:16:04]>> Yeah. I I I bring in the point of the afterlife just because the stakes are so high. Like I'm >> Let me answer your point directly though. You said then why doesn't God intervene when it comes to choosing which religion to be? that falls under free will. That's not determined. If you are in a situation that it is determined, for example, you are in a society in which you have no way of learning about Islam. There's no way of knowing, right? And you die upon that. You will not be thrown into the hellfire.

[00:16:44]What will happen in that situation is you will be given another test. Yeah.

[00:16:48]And then it will be determined. Some scholars of akida even say that person will go to paradise because they didn't go through that test regardless. Yeah.

[00:16:58]They will be given a test and then you know it will be determined where they will go. Now for somebody to go to the hellfire the message has to have reached them.

[00:17:13]Then that message they have to have processed it and it has to have and they have to have accepted it. This point is important. Accepted it and has made sense to them >> then rejected it >> and rejected it. That person throw him head first into the hellfire. He deserves it. This is what people don't say. People think I gave a brother a bit of da. I gave him maybe a halfcooked argument and I said ah you know brother I've given you the message. He was he got maybe his father died the day before. He's halfway there. He's not paying attention to me. I'm using big words. He doesn't use big words. He hasn't even understood what I said to him. No, it doesn't work like that.

[00:17:56]Unless uh an argument or the dean has been presented to them, understood by them, accepted by them and then rejected by them, then that person is destined for the hellfire. But if that person hasn't understood it then no. So that's why I say alhamdulillah for Islam.

[00:18:18]Alhamdulillah. And they are trying to use their ideologies that don't make sense because even atheists have to contend with issues of determinism and free will. This is not an issue that a person can say, "Oh yeah, I'm going to leave the religion." Not saying that you brought that up. But I'm saying even atheists, >> no, no, >> have to decide if they're determinist or in free will or if they're compatibilist.

[00:18:42]>> My my wondering, I'm not even going to call it a doubt, was >> God's responsibility, I don't know if that's right to say, >> absolutely, >> stop and start with us, especially when the stakes are so high.

[00:18:54]>> There you go.

[00:18:56]>> It was a pleasure talking to you.

[00:18:57]>> Pleasure was mine, bro.

[00:18:58]>> I'm visiting from Toronto and I've been listening to you from the past year.

[00:19:01]You're in my ear while I'm at the gym doing the dishes. It's a pleasure to meet you in person.

[00:19:06]>> No, Jazak for coming and it was a good question and you raised some some valuable points and I thought you were fair with your points. Alhamdulillah.

[00:19:16]>> You mind if we grab a picture?

[00:19:18]>> Oh, you with the brother? Yeah.

[00:19:20]>> No, no, I'll take you mind. Thanks, man.

[00:19:22]I appreciate it.